Is 'Backrooms' Actually as Good as Everyone Says? Yes, and Even Better

Backrooms is a project by A24's youngest director, 20-year-old Kane Parsons who rose to fame with the web series of the same name, which he created at age 16.

The movie is based on the internet myth of The Backrooms, a creepypasta about liminal spaces into which people can "fall" from their normal reality like a video game character who has fallen off the map.

What Is 'Backrooms' About?

Clark is a weary former architect and furniture store owner. He is constantly angry, drinks alcohol, and attends therapy sessions with Mary, a psychotherapist.

One day, bewildered by his mounting electricity bills, Clark stumbles upon a strange portal in the basement of his store. It leads to an endless labyrinth of rooms, corridors, and halls. Engrossed in exploring this vast space, Clark loses himself.

Seeking to save a client or overcome her own demons, Mary follows him. Together, they find themselves in a world of yellow walls, carpeting, and the hum of fluorescent lights.

Kane Parsons Transforms Liminal Spaces Into a Gen Z Main Fear

The secret to the Backrooms' success lies in the alluring yet terrifying magic of liminal spaces. By definition, these are places that should be bustling with life but are devoid of the usual human presence. Examples include empty shopping malls, abandoned offices, and endless corridors.

These spaces evoke the "uncanny valley" effect, which is a feeling of revulsion and anxiety when encountering something that looks familiar but is not perceived as such by the brain.

Backrooms has become the quintessential embodiment of Gen Z's fears – this generation grew up with unlimited access to the internet and technology and has no sense of the boundaries between the real and the virtual.

'Backrooms' Is a Unique, Next-Generation Horror Film

Kane Parsons' origins are particularly evident in Backrooms: the director did not emerge from a prestigious school of horror but from digital culture. He cites the video game Portal 2, the TV series Mr. Robot, Satoshi Kon's anime Paranoia Agent, and the psychological thriller One Hour Photo as sources of inspiration.

Backrooms is not just a creepypasta adaptation – it is a strange hybrid of found footage, psychological drama, and sci-fi horror. Unlike the elaborate horrors of cursed hotels, hell here smells not of sulfur but of old carpet.

The film frightens not because of sudden monster appearances from behind the corners (though there are plenty of creatures), but because these corners exist at all. Beyond each corner is another corner, and they are so similar that the brain begins to malfunction.

Parsons' horror is built not on the invasion of the alien but on the mortification of the familiar: a furniture store, a service corridor, an empty swimming pool. Civilized tinsel suddenly sheds its social function and becomes bare scenery.

Backrooms' main problem is that the longer it tries to transform pure sensation into a coherent plot, the more visible the seams become. A labyrinth may be beautiful in and of itself, but it is not always a viable dramatic mechanism.

Nevertheless, Backrooms remains one of the year's most successful genre experiments: an unsettling and visually expressive film.

What Did Critics & Viewers Think of 'Backrooms'?

• Backrooms has 88% from critics and 75% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.

• On IMDb, the movie has a score of 7.1/10.

• On Letterboxd, Backrooms scored 3.4/5.0.

Where to Watch 'Backrooms'?

Backrooms is currently playing in theaters.